Ek […] wraitalaþo

The Proto-Norse strong preterite 1sg ending in light of the Trollhättan II bracteate

Bibliographic Data

ID22302976
AuthorsSimon Poulsen (0000-0002-0486-8849, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume73
Issue1
Pages21-43
Publication date2020-04-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0108-8416 • E-ISSN: 2212-9715
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/nowele.00032.pou
OpenAlexW3023731603
LanguageEN
References cited23

Scholars have previously interpreted the sequence wraitalaþo on the Trollhättan II Bracteate as wrait alaþō ‘I wrote the magical formula’, wrait ā laþō ‘I wrote laþu in(to)’ or wraita laþō ‘I wrote as an invitation’. The first and second interpretations are improbable for semantic, morphological and syntactic reasons. The third interpretation does not consider the linguistic consequences of the strong preterite 1 sg ending being retained as - a in Proto-Norse (PN). I will argue that final - a was preserved in early PN after a stressed syllable, but was lost after an unstressed one. I will reconsider the group of PN inscriptions that attest strong preterite verbs. Finally, I will conclude that all definite evidence of the loss of - a belongs to a later period. One exception, however, is the much-debated inscription on the Reistad Stone, which lacks the syncope and has an original word-final - a in unnam(ʀ̣) wraita

Art · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Literature · Sequence (biology) · Syllable · Syncope (phonology) · Chemistry · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy

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